We've been long-time fans of Japanese architect Shigeru Ban, so we were very excited to hear that he recently unveiled a new cardboard pavilion in Gorky Park, Moscow. The understated circular structure is made up of Ban's signature cardboard tubes and will serve as the temporary home of the city's Garage Center for Contemporary Culture before it relocates to its permanent OMA-designed home. The pavilion officially opened this weekend along with the launch of an exhibition entitled Temporary Structures in Gorky Park: From Melnikov to Ban.

Using locally produced paper tubes, Shigeru Ban designed an oval wall which encompasses an area of 2,400 square meters, including a rectangular exhibition space, a bookshop and a café. The wall reaches a height of 7.5 meters and embodies the principles of temporary architecture that Shigeru Ban is most famous for. The pavilion will host different cultural activities until late 2013, after which it will be used as a space for experimental projects.

We’ve featured Ban’s work many times before on Inhabitat both for its ability to be used in a temporary context and for the innovative use of cardboard. If you’re not familiar with Shigeru Ban, he is best known for his seemingly simple structures that actually break the boundaries of what is possible with paper. He has constructed everything from churches to even bridges out of cardboard, which is an easily recycled and recyclable material.

The Temporary Structures in Gorky Park: From Melnikov to Ban exhibition will inaugurate the new pavilion, drawing parallels between the actual space and the architectural legacy of Gorky Park. The exhibition will feature built and conceptual work and rare archival drawings by famous Russian architects, all relating to the history of structures created in the park since it was first developed in 1923. The work will be displayed chronologically, starting with the Soviet period and concluding today’s Russian temporary structures.